Former minister of justice and MP for Mount Royal Irwin Cotler spoke at the event, calling Wiesel "the most remarkable human being I ever encountered and had the pleasure to work with these last 50 years."

Speaking to CBC Montreal's Homerun, Cotler said that it was important for everyone from community leaders and young people to Montreal's remaining Holocaust survivors to come together and mark Wiesel's passing.

Elie Wiesel passed away Saturday at age 87. (Gary Cameron/Reuters)

"Whether it be in Rwanda, whether it be in Darfur, whether it be in Bosnia, [Wiesel] was always railing against injustice," said Cotler. "Not only railing, but acting."

Wiesel's memoir Night, initially published in Yiddish in 1955, detailed his experience as a teenager in Nazi concentration camps.

The book went on to sell millions of copies.

Wiesel was also the recipient of the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize.

He dedicated the prize to other survivors of the Holocaust, calling them "an example to humankind how not to succumb to despair."